Drastic
Stories
On Sale: 07/08/2003
Drastic
Stories
On Sale: 07/08/2003
Format:
About the Book
Meet the college graduate working in a whole body–donation clinic; a young woman obsessed with Benedictine monks; a middle-aged woman who becomes a stand-in talk-show guest; unlikely friends who meet in a domestic violence shelter; a young girl and the father who stole her away to escape his wife's mental illness; a graduate student from a suburban family who believes her physical connection to the world is deteriorating. Maud Casey -- author of The Shape of Things to Come, a New York Times Notable Book -- explores how we survive modern crises of loss and love through the lives of emotional and geographic nomads. Each flirts with madness and self-destruction while reaching toward life. These simple gestures of optimism and vitality, gorgeously rendered, make drastic an unforgettable collection.
Critical Praise
“Well-written . . . novelistic, its theme of loss made palpable and powerful . . . such riches.” — New York Times Book Review
“Tak[ing] a dazzling narrative dare.” — New York Times Book Review on Notable Book of the Year THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
“Refreshingly unaffected. . . . There’s a deliberate tenderness in Casey’s handling of her characters.” — Washington Post Book World
“Striking . . . a gem.” — Elle
“A complex, mature, and compelling novel.” — Chicago Tribune
“Skillful, moving . . . A winning combination of emotional resonance, subtle humor and wisdom.” — Publishers Weekly
“Stories . . . that absolutely soar with illuminating little details that crack everything open and reach for hope.” — Hartford Courant
“Edgy, thought-provoking, charged with raw emotion, Drastic is an impressive collection from a rich and wonderfully unpredictable talent.” — John Searles, author of Boy Still Missing
“Sad and funny, Casey’s warm-hearted, fine stories reach like a pair of outstretched arms for comfort and truth.” — Lily Tuck, author of Limbo, and Other Places I Have Lived: Stories
“[Drastic] is a treasure trove of jewels to live for--stories beautiful, multi-faceted, and fierce with light.” — Stuart Dybek, author of The Coast of Chicago
“Writing with power, beauty, and a searing vision, Maud Casey creates stories that change the world before our eyes.” — Erin McGraw, author of Lies of the Saints
“The characters in Drastic struggle to understand their lives...in prose that is quiet and illuminating.” — Jason Brown, author of Driving the Heart: And Other Stories
“Casey tells these stories with a compassionate voice that would give anyone of these people a reason to live.” — Mary Kay Zuravleff, The Frequency of Souls
“The characters in Casey’s stories find their solace ... in the moments love cracks the rock face of the ordinary.” — Ann Darby, The Orphan Game
“Maud Casey snakes beneath our consciousness, one deft sentence at a time. Drastic is a wholehearted work of art.” — Nicholas Weinstock, author of As Long As She Needs Me
-Resources
Product Details
- ISBN: 9780060512552
- ISBN 10: 0060512555
- Imprint: Harper Perennial
- On Sale: 07/08/2003
- Pages: 224
- List Price:17.50 CAD
- BISAC1 : FICTION / Disaster
- BISAC2 : FICTION / Psychological
- BISAC3 : FICTION / Short Stories (single author)
